choice Magazine

Episode 110: The Passion Behind Coaching: Insights and Challenges with guest, Sandra Hill

• Garry Schleifer

Share episode

What drives someone to become a coach? In this episode, we bring you an enlightening conversation with Sandra Hill, a professional growth coach and author who unveils the passion behind the profession. Sandra discusses her recent article in choice Magazine, "Coaching: To Be or Not to Be," and the intrinsic motivations that fuel the journey to becoming a coach. From differentiating coaching from therapy, mentorship, and advising to the essential role of proper certification and training, Sandra's insights offer a profound look into maintaining the integrity of the coaching profession. Her personal anecdotes provide a vivid portrayal of the multifaceted nature of coaching and its ever-evolving landscape.

The episode also tackles some of the biggest challenges and misconceptions in the coaching world. We address the illusion that coaching is an easy career and stress the importance of ongoing education and reputable certifications. Aspiring coaches will find valuable advice on market research, specialization, and the significance of continuous self-improvement. We further explore how AI is reshaping the coaching industry, sharing our own experiences with AI tools in practice. Balancing the adoption of new technology with a cautious approach, we reflect on our professional journeys and the lessons learned along the way. This is an episode packed with expert tips, professional reflections, and a glimpse into the future of coaching—don't miss out!

Watch the full interview by clicking here.

Find the full article here.

Learn more about Sandra Hill here.

For our choice Magazine listeners: Book your call with Sandra by going here.

Grab your free issue of choice Magazine here - https://choice-online.com/

Garry Schleifer:

Welcome to Beyond the Page, the official podcast of choice, the magazine of professional coaching, where we bring you amazing insights and in-depth features that you just won't find anywhere else. I'm your host, Garry Schleifer, and I'm excited to expand your learning as we dive into the latest articles. ave a chat with the brilliant authors behind them, like Sandra Hills today, and uncover the learnings that are transforming the coaching world. Join our vibrant community of coaching professionals as we explore groundbreaking ideas, share expert tips and techniques and make a real difference in our clients' lives. This is your go-to resource for all things coaching, so let's dive in. In today's episode, I'm speaking with Professional Growth Coach Sandra Hill, who's the author of an article in our latest issue, and I don't know if you can see it, but it's got that Alice in Wonderland modified, "A livelihood from coaching feasible or fanciful. Her article is entitled Co coaching to be or not to be so many mystery titles. I love this. A little bit about Sandra. She's a pcc, an MCPLC, a CVF, and is the CEF and Founder of New Horizon Coaching and Professional Growth Advancement, where she helps writers turbocharge their writing transformations, as she does here. This is like her third or fourth time, so she's walking her talk. Don't tell her. She's good. She's good. She serves as a mentor, teaches various proprietary coaching workshops and serves as the host of the podcast Grow Your Own Voice, Overcome Your Fears. A bestselling author, Sandra writes career coaching articles for Forbes, GovLoop, choice Magazine and other industry magazines. Sandra, thank you so much for coming on back and for writing for us again, sharing your wisdom, as always. Good to see you.

Sandra Hill:

Same here. Thank you so much for the invite. I love, love, love writing, as you can tell.

Garry Schleifer:

I can tell.

Sandra Hill:

You know, it's inspiration, inspiration. I get it daily, I get it daily so yeah, yeah, we were doing alphabet soup there for a minute.

Garry Schleifer:

Yeah, what are some of these? So so what's an MC PLC?

Sandra Hill:

Master Certified Professional Coach.

Garry Schleifer:

From what school?

Sandra Hill:

That would well, let's see, they've changed names Certified Institute of Coaching. They've changed names.

Garry Schleifer:

All

Sandra Hill:

Certified Virtual Facilitator. I facilitated for 30 something years, COVID hit and my sister, who's a college professor, wanted me to help out teaching people Zoom, and some other people wanted me to facilitate virtual discussions and a friend of mine said "sandra, why don't you just get certified in virtual facilitation? And that's what I did it

Garry Schleifer:

I didn't even know. I mean, I know it's done, I just did not know that certification was a thing. Yeah yeah, yes. That's why you're such a great guest because you just know how to be.

Sandra Hill:

Well. Thank you. Thank you To be or not to be.

Garry Schleifer:

Exactly that's the topic of the article. So you've written other things in other areas for choice Magazine. What had you decide to write this time for this kind of business, feasible and fanciful issue?

Sandra Hill:

Wow, the time this idea popped into my head, there was a lot going on in the coaching community and, as a member of the ICF world and some other coaching organizations, I would periodically get surveyed. You know, what do you think about coaching, where is coaching going, et cetera, et cetera. And then I had some people tap me and they would say I want to be a coach, I want to be a coach, I want to be a coach. And some of the reasons were I lost my job. I heard coaching is easy, I can be a. What was that article in the newspapers when we had black and white newspapers? Oh, there was somebody who was always answering people's questions.

Garry Schleifer:

Oh, Ann Landers.

Sandra Hill:

They were thinking along those lines. It's an easy job. I can do this remotely. I'm tired of going in the office. I heard all kinds of rationale, right, and some of which I was really touched by and some of which I was offended by because it was like, hey, you're taking away my livelihood and you're going to potentially make a bad name for coaches in general. If you don't have the proper certifications, if you don't know what you're doing, people will get a bad experience. So I started thinking okay, you want to be a coach, do you really want to be a coach? And then, I don't know, something was on TV and you know.

Garry Schleifer:

Inspiration struck Sandra Hill. Well, I'm glad you did, because it's a very it's. I love the. different directions and the different possibilities to help people decide whether or not to be a coach. One of the things I want your take on is is it a calling?

Sandra Hill:

I think it is a calling because you have a passion. You don't always know your calling Sometimes you kind of land in your calling.

Sandra Hill:

But it is a calling. Everybody is not capable of being a coach based on what they're coaching. Some people use the word synonymously therapist, mentor, advisor. They are all different, so you might think your being called to be a coach, but you're really called to be a therapist, or called to be a mentor, or maybe even called to be a minister. Who knows? There are similarities.

Garry Schleifer:

Exactly. To your point, I didn't know until I knew I just started doing it. I was in a coachee in a program at Landmark Education and, uh, they gave you a coach for this three-month project and I loved it and then I volunteered for them because that was how it all worked. And then I met somebody who had was making a living being a coach and I'm an entrepreneur first, luckily. So it was like, right away, it's like, uh, cha-ching, why am I doing this for free when I can get paid to do it?

Garry Schleifer:

And I went off and did it but you know, I love what you said.

Garry Schleifer:

It doesn't always fall upon you to realize it's a calling when you first get started, which is what has me wonder. Like you know, you've got university programs now and students are saying, oh, I want a career as a coach, but, you know, would a calling get in the way of them being a good coach?

Sandra Hill:

It might and it might not. There is not a one size fits all. It's great to take a class. It's what I tell my when I mentor children and kids, high school, middle school. I do some mentoring and they don't always know what they want to do when they grow up, so they dip their hands in this, they dip their hands in that. It's kind of like coaching. You might take a class in coaching and say, wow, I love it, but it might be a beginner type coaching class. Well then, if you go to more advanced or you say I want to hone in on this particular niche, it might get a little bit complicated. You will know when it's right for you.

Garry Schleifer:

Good point.

Sandra Hill:

When I went, I didn't even know what a coach was, but I ended up being a coach, not knowing I was a coach, until someone said how's the coaching going? I'm like what? What are you talking about? Well, that's what you do, and I hadn't gone through any training. I was doing what I thought came naturally, doing the right thing. However, after taking classes and courses in every coaching school might not be a good fit. Every coaching instructor, they might be a great coach, but they might not be a great teacher. That's like everything in the world.

Sandra Hill:

So you kind of to put on. You have to take off those rose-colored glasses.

Garry Schleifer:

And here's something that is coming up for me while you're saying this. It's like so there's a gray area, not a gray area, but a middle middle ground. So you can be a coach, but you can also have coaching as a tool in your toolbox. Yes, right, toolbox, , or your or your medical, your teaching skills, or your pastoral skills, right?

Garry Schleifer:

And there's also the middle ground area of and we kind of hit this issue thinking, you know, going on the context that 25 percent of coaches don't make it. Oh, I forget the statistics, but there's higher failure rate than success, right?

Sandra Hill:

But I

Garry Schleifer:

Oh I don't know many coaches that are all or nothing Like I published choice of magazine, professional coaching and I coach, right. So I don't ever want to. I don't think I ever want to just be coaching. I always want to have my hand in something else and I love entrepreneurship, so I always want to have my hand in building a business of some sort, right yes, so, yes, so the question I always wanted them to ask was was that 25 percent of uh, or whatever the this?

Garry Schleifer:

oh, I'm so sorry. I forgot the context. I don't know if you remember it.

Garry Schleifer:

It's like 25 percent of coaches don't make it, don't make a living.

Sandra Hill:

Yes, yes In the first couple of years. But who does?

Garry Schleifer:

Well and from coaching. But is anybody asking the question what else are you doing to supplement your income that you also might love? Like facilitation, for example, you and teaching and things like that. Mentoring, yes, supervision, things like that other aspects of coaching for or life?

Sandra Hill:

Yeah, yeah, and I like the way you phrase that because, to your point, when I was a supervisor, I had coaching in my toolkit not knowing I had coaching in my toolkit, you understand. So when I found that out and learned more, I started training others to add coaching to their toolkit. Okay? It didn't fit with everybody's leadership style. So it was give and take, but to that point, sometimes people have to do a lot of homework. They don't necessarily have, and there's some personality types, it's all or nothing. They're gonna get rid of everything, quit every job and go head first into an abyss probably. That's probably the 25 percent. They've given it up and not known what they're getting into, and the pressure is overwhelming. The pressure is totally overwhelming.

Sandra Hill:

So, yeah, you have to know, you have to prepare, you have to do your homework.

Garry Schleifer:

Funny you should say that because in your article you say, pause which is the conversation we're having about coaching, being a coach. Prepare and prioritize. Tell us more about that prepare and prioritize.

Sandra Hill:

So, you want to be a coach. You made that decision. Why did you make that decision? What's the rationale? Okay, get a deeper dive into who you are. Are you somebody with a short fuse? Are you somebody with patience? Are you a good listener? You know you have to examine yourself. And why did you make that choice? If you're making that choice to pay the rent, it's not gonna pay the rent for a while. Okay, if you made that choice because you think there's no other choices out there. You got to take a deeper look to what's out there. But you've got to do that introspective questioning. Take a minute. What kind of coach do you want to be? Is there a market? Are you going to make money? There are lots of people who have wonderful ideas, but they can't sell those ideas. You ever watch Shark Tank?

Garry Schleifer:

Yeah, yeah.

Sandra Hill:

Okay, Shark Tank. I'm a shark for an entrepreneurial school. Okay, these kids come up with wonderful ideas. But it's like, okay, Johnny just had that idea a few minutes ago, Sally just had that. What makes it different? What makes it unique? Are people going to pay for it and how much value are you going to add? Right, and you have to think about all of these things. It's like putting a strategic plan in your head, but some people don't think strategically, which is not a knock on them, because they're not linear thinkers. They might think of the end result, and then you gotta help them go backwards, put the pieces together. So, part of the pause and prepare, do your research, talk to other people you know who are coaches, and ask them questions that you know come to mind. How do you get where you are? What did you do? What mistakes did you make?

Garry Schleifer:

And clarify what kind of coaches they should be looking for, because anyone can call themselves a coach and I've heard an example of one person and they're not even trained as a coach and they're training coaches at $10,000 a crack.

Garry Schleifer:

So to even taking that step back and going. So you know my bias is find a certified coach with either the International Coaching Federation, right European Mentors and Coaches Council, some established reputable body that these people have been trained by, not Joe Jack's coaching school down the road.

Sandra Hill:

Exactly, exactly, yes an accredited institution, accepted by an accredited, recognized organization, coaching organization organization. Yes, that is definitely a must and you know, nowadays, depending on where you're coaching and what you're coaching, businesses won't even speak to you, take a look at you or work with you, unless you come from a accredited program.

Garry Schleifer:

Right, I'm one of those people. In your article you say do you want to work for someone else or for yourself? And I work for myself, but contracted to somebody else, so they give me the clients, which saves me a lot of marketing time so I can work on choice magazine and spend time with friends like Sandra Hill.

Sandra Hill:

Awesome, awesome. And these are the things you have to think about. Unfortunately, social media has put a spin and made things look so easy, so quick but, it's not easy and quick. You really have to burn the midnight oil, burn the candle on both ends, whatever expression you want to use. You got to work for it. If it's easy, everybody's brother will do it, and that's not the case.

Garry Schleifer:

It's not the case, although on the surface, it looks like it. To your had, earlier about these people to, COVID, it's like, oh, I don't want to work for a corporation. This coaching thing looks easy which it in a sense it does. But boy, how many years have you put in of training and continuous learning, et cetera.

Sandra Hill:

Fortunately, exactly, exactly. It is not easy and unfortunately I have had. I'm sure you have to pick up the pieces and clean up after someone who was a recipient, again, going will, of poor coaching or an inexperienced coach. Yeah, you know. members of the

Garry Schleifer:

and fortunately I I haven't had that experience often enough to be able to report on it, so fingers crossed on that one. But yes, I, I can totally see that happening again. Going back to we can't we coach. The coach trademark is a handbag company. Okay, like we can't. We're self-regulated in with the international coaching federation and it's up to people like yourself and me to stand for the quality of coaching and in these calls, even someone, if you're listening and you're interested in coaching, contact either one of us. We're both exactly international coaching federation, we're both certified by the uh international coaching federation, we've both gone to training schools that are accredited by the international coaching federation and others and others and others, right, so yes yes, do your homework.

Garry Schleifer:

And if it, how's that go? If it looks too good to be true, it probably is. .

Sandra Hill:

Yes, yes, and to those of your listeners or people who just randomly pick up going to offer? you a free pick If you want to be a coach and you're considering, but you're not quite sure. I'll offer you one free session, one hour, and Sandra kind everyone of weed things . Oh you know.

Garry Schleifer:

Thank you very much, and we'll ask for your details. Never too. So, yes, yes, you know what I'm going to. Pick up the challenge and say me too. I'm more than happy. I already do. I talk people a lot, but it's funny, sandra, every makes an assumption oh well, you're too busy to to to talk to me. I'm like, oh really, so you have access to my calendar, you. You know what I'm doing every minute of every day. Don't make decisions. People pick up, yes, and I say pick, this is the one I love the most.

Garry Schleifer:

My the phone and give me a call I know never, but we're in a day and age now, so even my mother doesn't pick up the phone and call anymore. She's 92 this year. She'll text you to say will can I call you?

Sandra Hill:

yeah, . but she can't text. Texting has never been her forte, yeah, but so she'll pick up the phone and call. But you're right, you know, I give up my number all the time and people will just turn around and text.

Garry Schleifer:

I remember I'm available for you?

Sandra Hill:

Sure Exactly. y w g. . is . .

Garry Schleifer:

I remember the days when Skype I was first starting and everybody was like no, no, no, you don't want to put your phone number on your signature because all kinds of calls I'm like. But I want all kinds of calls because then I'll learn how to weed it and make it through. No one ever called my phone number. Still in the bottom of my my every free one of my emails. It's standard protocol, it's in there, nope the one I did take out, though, is skype, because nobody uses that anymore. They probably.

Sandra Hill:

So skype too.

Garry Schleifer:

yeah, so we digress. What other challenges do you think individuals face when. What to decide to be a coach? .

Sandra Hill:

There Well, no, some people think I got to nail it down right now what I'm going to do, how I'm going to do. You know and you don't know. You don't learn about the process because there is a process of their, being a know, coach. It's just not willy nilly, you know. Learn about the process of being a coach and do your. You don't have to do a deep market research, but you got to do some market research.

Sandra Hill:

You know there might be something that's near and dear to your heart. Someone told me they lost like 150 pounds so they want to be a weight loss coach and you know that is great, that is awesome. First I applauded them on their you know effort to lose that 150 pounds.

Garry Schleifer:

Oh, no kidding. g t b d

Sandra Hill:

into the dynamics. Well, how did you do like that? What do you think a weight loss coach will do? Or are you going to be a health coach? Are you going to have certifications that help you discern the medical aspects, the nutritional aspect, you know? So you have to kind of give them some insights because as experienced coaches, we have seen it all. So you kind of have to help them because they might not know, turn the page over, look it over carefully to help you make that decision. And then, with all the nutritional, health, gym fitness, all of those other types of coaches, how are you going to separate yourself? How are you?

Garry Schleifer:

going to be different. Well, and what other skills do you need, Like, what knowledge do you need about nutrition, personal training, hydration? You know the other skills in the toolbox, right?

Sandra Hill:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, building your toolbox and in this case, in the coaching world, you have to know that once you build it, you have to continually stock it, resupply it, recharge it.

Garry Schleifer:

Yeah. contents of the

Sandra Hill:

You know, it's just not static. Yeah, exactly Just as the world and the people are changing, that toolbox has to evolve. Yeah, the changing that toolbox has to evolve the contents of the toolbox have to evolve.

Garry Schleifer:

I. but how long have you been since your coach training, because you obviously were coaching before that, as you said?

Sandra Hill:

How long ago did you do, how long ? did you?

Garry Schleifer:

do your coach training.

Sandra Hill:

Wow, so I did my coach training. Let me do the math here, because this is 2024, so I officially started doing my coach training probably 15 years ago wow, yeah okay, 15 years ago now. I say started because before that I was reading books and learning the world of coaching and, of course, when I started this was before the days of internet. Like we have it, I'll just put it out there.

Sandra Hill:

Okay, yeah, I remember those days were the best way to go for a long time. And then the Google came along and you could research. And then it took a while because I was in the federal world. It took a while for my agency to embrace.

Garry Schleifer:

time spent educating. .

Sandra Hill:

It wasn't a gift. It wasn't a reward for good behavior. back then like major for like a. At spent educating. Yeah, yeah, because when I first started, coaching was only for people who were developmental failures. It wasn't for people who wanted to improve yeah, it wasn't a gift. It wasn't a reward for good behavior.

Garry Schleifer:

It was a for bad behavior yeah, it was at know, that's what the what corporations kind of wanted to, but they've since evolved as well. .

Sandra Hill:

So right, they have, they have, they have. And it took, you know. I applaud them because it took a bit, you know. But then once the movement started, you know it was a quick flip. So with that came the training for my agency that I work with, as well as spending my own money. Listen carefully, people Just because you have a job doesn't mean that your employer is going to pay for that training.

Sandra Hill:

OK, you have to be able to fund if you and be nothing, you get nothing willing to fund your own training. Ok, cheap is not always best, free is not always best. Okay, not to knock cheap or free. You can take some freebies but know that if it's worth something, you're going to have to pay something.

Garry Schleifer:

Sometimes you get what you pay for and you pay nothing know, . S Y a h t b o.

Sandra Hill:

And. You know you go through all of this, so so, yeah, it's been a journey and it's called continuing education. . . A A

Garry Schleifer:

Okay always have to be open to well and I'm sure you, like me, have renewed your PCC certification, which you're allowed AI every three years, under the proviso that you continue to learn and get the or so they seem continuing education unit exactly record it exactly, exactly the required number. Yeah, exactly, yes um, a big question. Can't have a conversation without having those bloody letters in there. Has ai made it easier or harder for coaches these days?

Sandra Hill:

okay. answer that properly, you have to break down where the coaches are. Beginner coaches seem to love AI. Okay, different aspects of AI. Right, because it helps them in the marketing world.

Garry Schleifer:

Exactly, or so they seem.

Sandra Hill:

Okay, I'm one of those people. Just because something's new out there doesn't mean I'm going to jump on the bandwagon. Okay, one of those people. Just because something's new out there doesn't mean I'm going to jump on the bandwagon. Okay, and I think AI will continually evolve, but in the wrong people's hands it will be used incorrectly, okay. Okay, different aspects of it. The intent was good, okay, and I personally I'm not using it in my coaching tool toolkit at the moment. I know other coaches who are and they love it.

Garry Schleifer:

Yeah. with the

Sandra Hill:

Because depends on what niche you. and confidentiality clients. a

Sandra Hill:

And because people don't seem to understand with ai. Ai is like any type of machine. It gobbles up and collects, so what it gets from one person is sharing with other people, right, and it just grows and grows and grows and grows. And to your point, which we haven't mentioned, coaching confidentiality is a must, strictly enforced, strictly enforced. So I know I will not work. I make a choice. I will not work with clients who want to use AI, like in their writing, because it I have seen it where it creates issues with plagiarism of course yeah, because I'm staying away from that.

Sandra Hill:

Yeah, I'm staying away. from that. You want to work with me and the plagiarism. No plagiarism at all. No AI. I can't control it, but if I have an inkling, you know that's where it stops.

Garry Schleifer:

Well, here's my question Can you use AI to determine whether somebody used AI? You probably can I understand, you can I think universities and colleges and universities are figuring out a way to, because that's one of the biggest concerns is papers written by AI.

Sandra Hill:

Yes, yes, I work with some schools and they have banned it. Yeah, and if you see it enough, you can tell.

Garry Schleifer:

Yeah.

Sandra Hill:

Like when I get someone's. Sometimes I'll be asked to review people's CVs or other document grant applications. I can tell automatically when AI is involved. You see repetition and then AI isn't always going to validate the information. They're going to take it because it came off some other technology and just share it. So you have to be extremely careful. My articles will never be AI generated.

Garry Schleifer:

. A. . A we did A. A

Sandra Hill:

now that you've now . There's A I a v a at

Garry Schleifer:

times, I'll be able to comparator, and I do want You used sed not about being afraid of ai, it's like coaching do your homework, so for example an issue on ai a while back and, yes, a lot of all, most of the authors and to the last person, they would either. They would talk about two different aspects of ai augmented ai which is what's on.

Garry Schleifer:

Zoom right now, for example, there's a little assistant. What a brilliant summary. I cut and pasted that from one of my meetings recently. I'm like, oh my gosh, this is awesome. No more taking notes, right, it's not just a description, it's literally. It listened through there, through there and, right to your point, augmented uh ai is. I use it sometimes to just start something because I'm better at editing than I am creating.

Garry Schleifer:

Okay, and I'm vetting it. What? What word did you use? You used a word about looking at it and to ensure that it's it makes sense.

Sandra Hill:

Yeah right, no plagiarism, but it's more than not plagiarism.

Garry Schleifer:

You know your stuff about coaching programs. Yeah, so you're going to read something that comes from there and you're going to go okay, that does makes no sense, that must be some piece of AI stuff. So we're talking generative, which is, or sorry, augmented, but then there's generative, and I think most people are more afraid of the generative because they see it as like the matrix and the sci-fi things that show us the end of the world. You've been using this sort of thing, all those chat bots that you use to chat with your, you know, whatever Amazon or whatever, that's been around for a long time.

Sandra Hill:

To your point, I don't do chat bots. Chat bots, I don't like them. Give me the real person.

Garry Schleifer:

They're way too slow.

Sandra Hill:

Yeah, and right now I haven't been using the augmented Zoom feature. I still take my own notes, you know, because sometimes I know the way I speak, it's not going to get translated. I feel like it's not going to get translated actually as accurate or in the same dynamics that I'm speaking. So I usually turn it off and everything. But I have been on calls where people have used it, send it out as a summary, you know, and I will scan it with my notes. You know, I will scan it with my notes and it's like, oh, it didn't catch that, but it was important to me. It might not be important to everybody else, right, you know, but to each his own, to each his own, but you got to know and you got to do your homework, right?

Sandra Hill:

Iis growing quicker and quicker and quicker and faster and faster. So I know it'll be there.

Garry Schleifer:

It's like the internet. It isn't going away. So to the people listening, isn't it better to look at it, try it out, like you and I are, just find out what its failings are, what it's, what it's good for. You know there's some really good uses for augmented AI for coaching.

Garry Schleifer:

. You uh, with permission, again confidentiality, there's There's a system Jonathan Reitz uh uses, and it does a summary and it compares it to previous calls to see what patterns there are for the , which really. So so they're really great uses

Garry Schleifer:

. ? .

Sandra Hill:

You know, it's kind of like the internet. Remember when we had aging myself. AI Dial up, yeah, Modems dial up yeah, and to learn. You got to learn the timing and the sounds and right, it got. It got what's that commercial gets better with time.

Sandra Hill:

It's a commercial about some wine or something. But it gets better with time. Ai will. It's better passed, everybody's, but right now, you know you got to get bugs out and things with. It's anything new. You know, and I'm one of those people I don't dive in headfirst. I'm very, I'm risk averse, risk averse. I'm going to wait, I'm going to wait, I'm going to wait and I'll be the last person.

Garry Schleifer:

Okay, so let's just say you're not a bleeding me edge and Sandra's still going. I'm not sure, but maybe in another year or two.

Sandra Hill:

Oh my gosh, that's too funny. Another question for you. exactly, that'll be me, that'll be. Yeah, oh my gosh, that's too funny. Another question for you.

Garry Schleifer:

Yeah, exactly. So you and I have been in the game for a long time. If you had the opportunity to do things differently, what, if anything, would you plan,? year

Sandra Hill:

You know, that's an excellent question and usually in the fall I do something like a reflection, you know, and I update my business plan. I do have a business plan five my business plan.

Sandra Hill:

Sometimes I get these aha moments and I have to jot it down so that when I go back I say, oh yeah, I should have done, I could have done blah, blah, blah. I think there have been a couple of things I would have done differently as far blah. I think there have been a couple of things I would have done differently as far as timing.

Sandra Hill:

Oh, okay, but it's a learning, it's a learned lesson. It didn't work out as bad, you know, for example, when I first started coaching, I was doing life coaching. Okay, I still do life coaching, because there's still people who contact me from, you know, hey, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, for my job, my career. They wanted me to do career coaching, right, you know, for executives. Ok, so they were paying me for that. And you know, I got the training, et cetera, et cetera, the career coaching. And then I said, you know, when I retired, that's when the light bulb went off, this I had a passion for it, you know, and it felt like this was my calling. And I did all these tests to make sure it was my calling. I said, when I retire, this is what I'm going to do.

Sandra Hill:

My family thought I was crazy, because three months after retirement everybody was at my house for the holidays and I was giving them my business plan. I was passing up, I had my logos to my color and they were like didn't you just? What are you doing? But, I knew what I was doing.

Garry Schleifer:

Right. .

Sandra Hill:

You know, I knew what I was doing now. Timing wise, probably should cause I, I, I, because I introverted, Garry. on calendar year basis for tax purposes. I would have timed that differently. Um, I branched out into radio first, before the uh podcasts and all of that yeah. I think I would have reversed that okay, but it was a great experience stronger yeah, I learned a lot and it was extremely helpful.

Sandra Hill:

I got tremendous exposure all across the world, you know. So, um, and then writing. I'm a quiet person, very introverted. Gary Let me know when that starts. Okay, truly truly, I really am, but when I'm into it, I am into it. That's one of the ways I knew this was my calling, because I could talk about this coaching forever and ever and ever.

Sandra Hill:

And I get my hands. I'm trying to keep the camera off my hands because my hands will go all over the place, but I knew it and I would do things at church and everything. And they were like you used to be so quiet, but when you talk you're like you know, and so I learned to hone that in.

Garry Schleifer:

Yeah. .

Sandra Hill:

And that's how I started writing, you know. So I wish I had started writing sooner, but it's all good. Yeah, if things hadn't happened the way they did, I probably People Who knows who knows me, I wouldn't be writing as much you know, but because I'm so quiet and reflective it, it came easy, as I was doing assessments and making all these notes and you know, I just started writing you know, and one day I wrote um the draft for my first book.

Sandra Hill:

I wrote to like three in the morning, three or four in the morning. I just couldn't stop and then I was like, what did I just do? What was this? You know, and people had always told me you know, you're not very good at speaking. You're not very good, and that's what you have to do, you have to get this out of your head no. Don't listen to the naysayers.

Sandra Hill:

You know, sometimes people, right or wrong, they're trying to do something right for you, but they'll put you in a mold.

Garry Schleifer:

Yeah, they put you in a box that they want you to be in, I yes. .. an .

Sandra Hill:

You might not have decided to write or stop reading or listen to others. No you don't conform. So there's something wrong. You're not conforming. Why aren't you yeah? Why aren't you yeah? It's because you don't belong in that box? You don't belong in a box, so anyway. But yeah, there'll be several things but you know what it is experience, wow. Experience is a great teacher, yeah, and if I had done things differently, I might not have been great people like you yeah you might not have decided to write or stop reading, yeah, or listen to others?

Garry Schleifer:

Yeah, no, it's great. Yeah, I mean, we're lucky to have you.

Sandra Hill:

Yeah, me well,. What would like our audience do as a result of this article and this conversation? to change? I'm going to keep on going.

Garry Schleifer:

learning always alone. Exactly, sandra. What would you like our audience to do? h H. . S

Sandra Hill:

as a result of the P article in this Paul conversation. L So you want lion, C as in cat a coach Certified Professional, Life if Coach that's a big if, if you want to be, if you're thinking about it, please contact shillCPLC@ gmail. com going to . my phone number, okay, and my you, email. You can contact me via text, phone or hey, My phone number is area code 678-523-2890. Again, that's 678-523-2890. 8 5, 2, 3, 2. 8 9, 0. Or you can send an email to s hill, that's my first, initial, my first name sandra hill h I l l very short and very s hill.

Sandra Hill:

as in paul, l as in lion season cat for certified professional life coach. That's the first one I ever came up with and I'm sticking to it. So, s-p-l-c-p-l-c at gmailcom. Very easy, Awesome. I look forward to hearing from you receiving your text messages. Just a contact to say hey. I'm thinking, maybe not now, maybe later. What should I do, what shouldn't I do? What pitfalls should I avoid?

Garry Schleifer:

here for our readers as well. For those of you that just want to. know more about Sandra and her writings, she's got, I'm sure, plenty of them posted up on her website and in a lot of our issues.

Sandra Hill:

So thank you again so much for joining us for this Beyond the Page episode. Sandra, Thank you so very much. I appreciate the invite and I'll be writing again?

Garry Schleifer:

Of course you will, because that's what you do. It's Inspiration Strikes and she writes.

Sandra Hill:

Oh, write that down.

Garry Schleifer:

Write that down. It's recorded.

Sandra Hill:

I know I know, I know, I know it's recorded.

Garry Schleifer:

Inspiration strikes and Sandra writes.

Sandra Hill:

Yes, love it, love it, love it. choice-online.

Garry Schleifer:

That's you for this episode of Beyond Garry, bye., subscribe to your favorite podcast app, of course, maybe the one that got you here. If you're not a subscriber to Choice Magazine, you can sign up for your free digital issue by scanning our QR code in the top right-hand corner of our screen or by going to choice-onlinecom and clicking the Sign Up Now button. Thanks again, sandra.

Sandra Hill:

I am Garry Schleifer, You have a great one, Gary Bye. I'm Gersh.

Garry Schleifer:

Leifer, Enjoy the journey of mastery. Bye everyone.